Tragedy of the Past
by Tsunami Storm
Summary: Kaiba receives a letter at school with some very disquieting news. Will it be too much for him to handle, or will he realize that he's never truly alone? Set right after everyone gets home from the Battle City Finals, DURING the series. No pairings, although there might be a bit of brotherly love in there somewhere. XD Rated K plus for implied bad language.


Hi, FF . net! Tsunami's back with another story!

This YuGiOh! one-shot is set just after Battle City, but before Waking the Dragons. It has elements of my Dragon-Prince saga, but you don't need to read all of those to understand this. It mostly follows the continuity of the show. (The only thing is that in the Dominion of the Beasts, Kaiba's 'Ka' is a Blue-Eyes White Dragon [Big surprise] named Ryushiro. Other than that, everything else follows what we saw in the series.)

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own YuGiOh! Wish I did, but I don't. If I did, I'd re-dub the series with all the same voice actors, but leave all the cool stuff in from the subbed. And I'd dub Season 0 too!

Tragedy of the Past

* * *

"Yo, Téa!" Joey called, an evil grin on his face. "Ya wanna see somethin' weird?"

Téa looked over at one of her best friends. "Just as long as it's not another bug, Joey." she grinned back, knowing how childish the blond duelist could be sometimes.

"Even weirder dan da weirdest bug you've ever seen!" he laughed. "Jus' take a look over dere." He nodded behind him at the one member of their class that was hardly ever there, Seto Kaiba himself.

Téa was confused. It wasn't _that_ unusual for him to be in class instead of at Kaibacorp., but then she saw something disturbing about the distant teenager. He was reading what looked at first glance to be some kind of business report, but a large amount of _tears_ were running from his eyes. As she watched in growing horror, he took one hand off the paper and covered half his face with it.

"Ya ever seen Rich Boy get so worked up like dat?" Joey asked her, unsure what to think now. "Normally he's about as expressive as a _rock."_

Téa looked furious. "This isn't funny, Joey! Something terrible must've happened! How can you make fun of him at a time like this? I thought you were better than that!" And with that she left a gaping Joey behind as she tentatively approached the distraught young man.

"Hey, Kaiba? Are you okay? Is there some way I can help?" she asked quietly, not wanting to startle him.

He didn't move for a solid minute, but then very slightly angled his head toward her. "Gardner." he whispered.

"What's wrong?" she repeated, still softly so that no one in the vicinity could eavesdrop.

He sighed after another minute. "Could you tell Sensei that I had to go home? It's– family issues. I can't stay here any longer." he asked, his face still streaked with saltwater.

Téa nodded. "Of course. I'm sure he'll understand."

Seto got up from his desk and picked up his briefcase. "Thanks, –Téa." Then he left the classroom before she could blink. A piece of paper fluttered to the floor at her feet, and she picked it up out of habit–to avoid getting scolded for littering. Not wanting to pry_–_but also curious_–_she unfolded the paper, her blue eyes widening in mounting horror as she read the letter.

"_To whom it may concern:_

_In light of Mister Gozaburo Kaiba's passing, it has been discovered that the untimely death of his Head of Programming, Mr. ––––––––––––––– (Téa couldn't read the name as it was too blurred with tear stains) was _not_ an accident, as you were told. Those in charge forbade this knowledge from ever coming to light, and charged those who knew never to reveal it, on pain of death. However, we thought the man's _sons_ had the right to know the truth. We offer our sincerest apologies for keeping this from the both of you for so long._

_Faithfully yours,_

_Kaiba Corporation"_

"Oh man." Téa whispered to herself, covering her mouth with a hand as she held the letter in the other. Her thoughts turned to the other blue-eyed brunette in her class. "Kaiba_–_"

* * *

On the way over to Domino Elementary School, Seto managed to assume his usual mask to hide his emotions, and removed the evidence of his emotional lapse at the high school. It was around lunchtime, so Mokuba would most likely be eating in the grass behind the school or on the roof–as was his habit when it was nice out. He explained to the school secretary that he was picking up his little brother early due to family issues, and the woman asked the boy to come down to the office. The boy arrived two minutes later, looking worried.

"Seto? Why are you here so early? I just barely finished my lunch." Mokuba asked, and Seto looked down at him with a smile of mixed emotions, but sadness was the predominant one.

"Something has_–_just come to my attention." his big brother explained. "This is something you need to hear, and you're not gonna want to go back to class afterwards. If _I_ couldn't handle it…" he trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. Mokuba wasn't as practiced at hiding his emotions behind masks as his brother was, and even _Seto_ had broken down at the news. "Come on, kid. We're leaving." he encouraged gently, and Mokuba followed without a backward glance–though he was still a little apprehensive.

…

"Where are we going, Seto? Home's not this way." the boy asked after a minute, and his brother closed his eyes as they continued to their destination. "The cemetery." was his only answer, and Mokuba's eyes widened. _Why the cemetery? We haven't been there in years. Not since Dad…_ Mokuba thought. Then he looked down. _Seto must want to pay his respects. But that doesn't explain why _I_ need to come too. I mean, not that I _wouldn't_. I wanna pay my respects too. To Dad and Mom._

After another five minutes of walking in somber silence, the brothers reached the plot of land where their parents were buried. Mokuba knelt on his knees and sat on his heels, folding his hands and closing his eyes in front of the headstone. Seto knelt on one knee next to the marker and put a hand on the top of it, also closing his eyes. _Mom. Dad. _he thought to himself. _I miss you so much. I wish you were here, for me _and_ Mokie._

"Mokuba." Seto began after his brother opened his eyes, sighing heavily. "What do you remember_–_ about the night of the accident?"

Mokuba looked confused. Why was Seto thinking about this? "Um_–_not much. I was just barely three. I remember we were driving home from something. We were both in the back seats, and I was in a car-seat. Everything's hazy, but the next thing I remember is waking up with a bunch of Band-Aids all over me, and you too. And then there was the funeral, and then our relatives left us at the orphanage."

Seto nodded. "Yeah. I remember a car on the other side of the road veering seemingly out of control and drifting onto our side of the road. Dad swerved to avoid him, but then the car behind us smashed into us and we flipped. The car turned over a few times and ended up upside-down in the ditch. I managed to free myself, then I unbuckled you and helped you out. You'd hit your head and there was a small cut on your temple. Then I tried to go back for Dad. But right when I took a step back to the car–it burst into flames. I shielded you as much as I could from the fire, and I knew that it was too late for Dad." he trailed off again, closing his eyes against the pain.

Mokuba had tears in his eyes too. He didn't understand why Seto was telling him this. But then he got his answer, and he wished he hadn't.

"I received a letter from Kaibacorp. today." Seto continued. "From some of the few people who were there when Gozaburo was alive. The accident_–_was deliberate. Someone_–_and I think you know who_–_was pulling all the strings that night and the days that followed. Our father was murdered."

Mokuba gasped in horror, and that only grew when he saw tears in his brother's eyes. Seto _never_ cried anymore. "Why?" he breathed. "Why would he do something like that? I knew he was a ruthless tyrant and cruel, but I never thought he'd be a murderer! Why'd he want to kill Dad? Dad was a good man."

"Because of me." Seto answered, looking down in shame. "Gozaburo was jealous of Dad. His son was a genius_–_a prodigy_–_and he wanted that. He wanted me to be _his _son. To replace Noah, I guess. So he threatened, bribed, manipulated, and eventually _killed_ to get what he wanted. Indirectly, but murder is murder no matter who's behind it. He paid off our relatives to just give us to the orphanage_–_which was fine for them, 'cause they didn't care about us anyway_–_then fabricated some cover reason to visit _that_ particular orphanage so he could claim his prize. He had to make it convincing though, so he acted like he was just there for the publicity. When I challenged him to a chess match and made our adoption a condition of his loss, that was his wish come true."

Mokuba was speechless, too horrified and devastated to speak. All these years he had thought his father's death was an accident. But someone had made it _look_ like an accident. Their father had been _murdered_.

"In fact, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he'd had something to do with Mom, too." Seto muttered, but Mokuba still heard it. "He had corrupt friends all over the place. I've always suspected that our old doctor did something to Mom when she had you. She wasn't too weak for the birth, like they said. She was always strong."

By this time both brothers were crying openly, not even bothering to hide their tears anymore. There was no one else around to see them anyway. After what seemed like an eternity, Seto opened his briefcase to show the letter to his brother–just in case any doubt remained in the boy's mind that this was all just some cruel joke played on them by a seriously twisted mind. Keying in the eight-digit code, Seto opened the case with practiced ease, but then froze in horror:

The letter wasn't there.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Dominion of the Beasts_–_

Ryushiro clawed ferociously at the barrier that separated the Dominion from the hellish world of the Shadow Realm, trying in vain to break through it to get to the monster that caused him and his master so much pain. That * deserved the deepest circle of Duat (Hell) for all of his crimes, long past and recent. There was no word in any human language, the language of magic, or any word in dragon-tongue that Ryushiro knew to describe that man. He didn't want to char him to a crisp with his White Lightning attack, or cut him to shreds with his claws and teeth. No. He wanted to utterly annihilate him with his strongest Burst Stream of Destruction ever, his most powerful and dangerous attack.

"_Ryushiro–" _Nephthys landed beside him and put a wing over his back like a human would put an arm around another human's shoulders. She knew how he felt. When her vessel lived in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs, there was many a time when she'd wanted to seek vengeance on all those who did her vessel harm. And a few times, she'd gotten her wish.

Another white dragon with eyes of blue landed on Ryushiro's other side, putting his head up against Ryushiro and nuzzling him gently–as a mother cat would her kitten. Reseph-Ari felt the same as Ryushiro. Anyone who would dare to wound a Blue-Eyes White Dragon_–_emotionally or physically_–_deserved to be destroyed. And Osiris help the one who would harm one of their young. Ryushiro was like a son to Reseph-Ari and Nephthys, though he had not been one of their own offspring. Not directly at least.

"_I'll kill him!" _Ryushiro roared, enraged. _"I will destroy the master of Exodia Necross until nothing is left of him! Kisara, Seth, help me! The Shadow Realm won't let me in!"_

Nephthys and Reseph-Ari were surprised that he'd called them by their respective vessels' names, but then answered, _"The living cannot enter Duat, my son." _Reseph-Ari growled._ "No matter how much they may desire passage. The only exception to that law is within a Shadow Game. And you know how stubborn your Ba is about such things. Rest assured, the monster of which you speak is indeed paying dearly for his crimes, and will do so for eternity."_

"_It's too good for him." _Ryushiro snarled back savagely. _"The Shadow Realm isn't enough."_

"_You'd be surprised at what Duat can do to a dark soul." _Reseph-Ari argued. _"Give it time. That is the best way to heal emotional wounds. That and surrounding yourself with those you love and who love you in return." _the older dragon stated wisely.

The fire in Ryushiro's eyes slowly abated at his elder's words, and the dragon released some of his pent-up tension by shooting a White Lightning attack into the sky. He sighed. _"You're right, Reseph-Ari. As usual."_ the young dragon growled, somewhat envious of the dragon's wisdom.

Reseph-Ari smirked. _"Have faith, my son. Wisdom and understanding will come to you in time. As you grow and change, so does your other half. In time, your wounds of the past will heal. And of course I'm right. I'm _always_ right." _he teased as an afterthought following that deep statement.

Kisara rolled her eyes. _"There's that pride of yours again, Seth."_ she snickered, and even Ryushiro smiled a bit at the lightness in her voice. They sure knew how to make him feel better. Now if only that lightness could somehow travel to his vessel in the human realm–

* * *

Back in the human realm–

"Oh no." Seto groaned to himself. "How could I have lost it? I_ know_ I put it in here! Where'd it go?" he asked himself frantically, but to no avail. The letter was nowhere to be seen. _It must have slipped out of my briefcase when I left the classroom. Oh, I hope no one read it. The _last_ thing I need is anyone's pity._ He decided then and there to go right back to the school and retrieve the document–but before he could take a step in the right direction, he spotted someone approaching from the direction of the high school. After a minute, he could make out some of their visitor's details.

_Pink jacket and blue skirt, so it's one of the girls, _a small part of his mind registered. _Short brown hair, blue eyes_–_oh. It's just Téa._ he realized, and his tense stance relaxed a little bit. Some of the girls in his class were kinda scary, if he was honest with himself. Over half of them were fangirls, and the other half would simply dissolve into squeals and sighs whenever he would pass them in the halls. Téa was the only relatively sane female in his class. Or the whole school, for that matter.

By this time the other student had reached the spot where the brothers stood, in front of their parents' grave. Seto was surprised to see tears in the brunette's eyes, though she was trying hard to hide them. She turned a bit pink in embarrassment, then looked down at her brown shoes and handed a folded letter to the teenaged genius. "You–you dropped this in class–um, Kaiba." she told him shyly, her cheeks flaming.

Seto took the letter wordlessly, his eyes asking a silent question–one he thought he already knew the answer to–but he wanted her answer anyway. The young woman continued to stare at her feet and whispered softly, "I read the letter. I couldn't help myself. I know it's none of my business, but–you know what they say about cats and curiosity." she joked nervously, but trailed off awkwardly when Seto looked up at her.

He was quiet for a long moment. Then he finally spoke. "Did you show anyone else?" he asked her, specifically referring to her group of friends, Yugi and the rest of the Geek Squad.

She shook her head. "No one. I came straight here, because I was sure you'd want it back." she answered, and Seto nodded. At least she'd had that much tact to keep it from as many people as possible.

"Thank you." he replied after a minute, then looked down at his own feet, not exactly knowing what to say. Not without sounding rude, anyway. He didn't have much experience talking to girls, or _anyone_ his own age for that matter.

Téa beat him to it. "I can't say I'm really surprised." she growled. "He seems like the kind of man that would do something like that. We were only under his thumb for a few hours. I can't imagine being _raised_ by such a monster. I think I can understand you a bit better now, Kaiba." she finished, looking up at him shyly through her eyelashes.

"Does this mean no more lame 'friendship' speeches?" he growled, but only half-heartedly. He didn't have the energy or the inclination to get into an argument today. Not after everything that had happened in the past few hours.

Téa shrugged, ignoring his insulting tone. "I guess they're never gonna work on you anyway, so why bother?" she asked rhetorically. "We pretty much consider you a friend anyway, after all we've gone through together and all the times you've helped us." She suddenly smirked evilly. "And I can tell you feel the same way." she teased, catching the normally-distant teen off-guard for a moment. He hadn't expected her to say _that_.

"No I don't!" he denied vehemently, but Téa could tell he was lying through his teeth. "The only one of your little Dweeb Patrol worth bothering with is Yugi. All the rest of you are just his cheerleaders and his favorite mutt, who just happens to get lucky every now and then." he retorted scathingly, but Téa just glared right back at him, knowing that he knew–deep in his heart–that the opposite was true. They were his _friends_, the first he'd had in a very long time. But the day that Seto Kaiba would admit to having friends other than his brother was the day that Joey actually beat him in a duel. In other words, it wasn't going to happen any time soon. She rolled her eyes. Kaiba would never change.

Surprising the elder Kaiba once again, Téa walked right between the brothers and knelt in front of their family's gravestone and folded her hands. "I don't know your names, but I hope that you're at peace in Heaven. And I know that you're always with your sons, in their hearts. Please continue to watch over them. If anybody deserves guardian angels, it's these two. Thank you for bringing such great boys into this world, Sir and Ma'am. This world would be a lot less bright without them." And with that she stood up and left the cemetery, leaving both Kaiba brothers gaping after her in stunned silence.

"Wow." Mokuba breathed after a moment. "I always knew Téa had guts, but I _never_ expected to see _that_."

Seto nodded, still too stunned to speak. After what seemed like an eternity, he turned back to the headstone and put a hand on it–just as he had earlier. "Rest in peace, Tou-san, Kaa-san." he muttered, then both brothers returned to their home, somehow knowing that everything would work itself out for the best in the end.

And they weren't wrong.

* * *

The End

I know. Joey and Kaiba are out of character in this. Joey's not _that_ mean. He wasn't even that cruel in Season 0. Eh, maybe he's just reacting to all the name-calling and merciless teasing he gets from our favorite CEO.

And speaking of which, I know we never see Kaiba shed tears in the show. The closest we get is in Season 5 with Seth. But wouldn't you cry too if you received a letter like that?

That letter was kinda rushed, too, so I know it sounds weird. And so does the ending. Meh.

See you next time!

Tsunami Storm


End file.
